Tooth Fairy Epidemic

The tooth fairy has been a frequent visitor to our house. Ella has lost both of her front teeth in the last month. I think it is pretty cute how losing a tooth or two completely changes the look of a kid. She actually looks younger with the big gap up front.

Not to be outdone, Asher had 4 teeth pulled to make room for adult teeth. I have never seen such big teeth. The dentist hoped the roots would be dissolving, but they were full length. Asher wasn't excited about the whole experience.

Pouring Out a Good Time

When Stefanie and the kids moved into the house in September of last year (a month after I moved in), I confidently assured her that we would have Thanksgiving in our "new" kitchen. If not Thanksgiving, then certainly Christmas. Well, for a number of reasons, the primary one being my absurdly unbridled optimism, we are a little behind that schedule. We are hoping that I might make good on that for this Thanksgiving. Tonight, however, was a major step in the right direction.

We have been planning our concrete counters for a while. I got a quote the first month we moved in for $4500. So we decided to go the DIY (do it yourself) route. I actually was ready to begin in March, but we opted to focus on other things for a while. With summer all but gone, we decided to use my last 3 days to get going on the counters. In true optimistic fashion, I also made a mental list of ALL the other things I would do during those days, because, well, 3 days! I can knock these counters out in half that time. I got started with the first step of cleaning the garage. You can see here that my garage is actually clean, and the tables I built are level. Problem? This took all of day 1. You are looking at the finished product of an entire day of work. I actually finished unpacking that final four boxes still in our garage from our move 1 year ago (although we still have a lot of other boxes in our dining room).

2 days left. I got to work on the forms. This was my favorite part. Figuring out the size, making the forms, putting it all together. This is a picture of the form for our cooktop counter top. It is made with MDF, and the counter is poured upside-down. The bottom of the form will be the top of the counter. I cut 2 inch foam insulation into the shape of our cooktop. Just a tip, if you ever find yourself needing to cut foam insulation, don't use a handsaw! What a mess. The jigsaw is definately the ticket. After all the corners are caulked with silicone, I went to work on the rebar and wire mesh to give the concrete some support. Then I thought, "What will I do with the extra concrete from these two counters? I should have a good amount." So I started a third form for our bathroom sink. That accounts for day 2 AND day 3.

We went away on Saturday and Sunday, but Monday night, I decided to pour starting at about 8 pm. I figured the cooler weather would be better for pouring concrete. I knew this would be a two-man job, so I asked my friend Don to come help me . We mixed, poured, vibrated, and smoothed all three counter tops before 10:30pm. This interesting tool Don holds is called a pencil vibrator. It gets all the air-bubbles out of the concrete. The only problem was that it got smoking hot and was hard to hold.

In 5 days, I will see how these turned out. I will post an update then. Out next step is to stain the counters a weathered dark brown and polish them with the diamond polisher. Full steam ahead!

First day of Preschool

Marley started preschool today. As you can see, she was excited! She is in a little setting with a total of 6 kids. She has been dreaming of school. However, tonight was melt-down time. She started balling at 6pm and didn't stop. She asked me to put her to bed at 7. Actually, all the kids have been that way since school started. Every evening is a mess when they all crash from exhaustion. I think we must be in the minority of parents that like summer better than the school year.

Look Who's Crawling Now

Yes, Kate is crawling. She continues to be one of the happiest babies we have met. She has a ready smile for everyone. However, Asher was worried because our friend, Kaliegh Anne, who is a month younger has been crawling for weeks and Kate was lagging behind. He must have felt sister competition because he resorted to coaching her and giving crawling tips. Needless to say, he was relieved when she started moving her caboose.

Pinecrest Part 2

The big attraction at Pinecrest is always the beach. The thing we like best about the whole trip is that we don't "have" to see or do anything. Most of our time is spent sitting and playing at the beach. Add to that the fact that I didn't drive the entire week and you have paradise. We ride our bikes most days to anywhere we need go. It is a mere 1 mile from our cabin to the beach. We even have a trailer to carry Marley and all the gear. Our spot on the 3rd beach (the least crowded one) is already picked out. We have a routine for relaxation.

Depending on the time of year, the water can be cool and refreshing (August-ish) or cold and frigid (June and July). It is interesting to see which kids mind the cold water and which ones don't. Our kids like the water for about 5 minutes. After that, they come out of the water a shivering mass of goosebumps. However, keeping them warm is always a nice part of the day.

On Wednesday, we took all the kids for a hike around Pinecrest. We went 1/3 of the way to the dam. It was a nice workout for me since I got to shoulder Marley a good deal of the way. The kids loved hiking the rock although meghan had a rough go of it in her Crocs.

The highlight of the whole week might have been our trip to Cleo's bath. Cleo's bath is an area 2 miles above Pinecrest. The stream that feeds into the lake comes down through the granite mountains. On its way down, it makes its way through Cleo's bath. Over time, the river has worn the rock smooth and spun boulders around depressions in the rock to make deep pools. The pools are smooth and round and vary in size from hot tub to swimming pool. Our favorite pool features a waterslide that drops into a pool 20 feet deep and 25 feet long. This water is snow-melt so although it is warmer in August than it is in June or July, it is still quite brisk. The hike up is as exciting as the arrival. I suspect that Asher and Ella liked it better. This was Ella's first time, and I thought she might have some troubles, but she was a champ and kept up with Asher the whole way. Last year Asher refused to even try the water. This year, he took the plunge, but once was enough.


The tradition on the way down is to stop for a Rootbeer Float at the snackshack. We canoed across the lake to the trailhead on the way in, but Asher and I raced the canoe back on the trail going home. In the canoe's defense, Tom and Jain didn't realize we were racing until we caught up to them, but it did give me an idea. Asher and I decided to run the lake that Friday. The lake is 4 miles of up and down rocky terrain. Though we went when it was getting hot Asher ran a great time. He ran around the lake in 1 hour 6 minutes. So we were all pretty impressed.

We did also have our usual trip to the Ranger Station, smores for dessert, and an evening show put on by the kids. It had all the elements we have come to love.

On our way to Pinecrest

We started on our way to Pinecrest right about on time. The only problem is that Stefanie's back went out, and she needed to lay down for a while before driving. ONn the way, Stef also needed to get out of the car for a bit, so we stopped at REI. While we were there, Asher tried climbing the rock wall. He was able to make it all the way to the top although he had to do it barefoot which couldn't feel good. We left again and made it to Tracy. We stopped at a gas station for some gas and a break. I was so excited that gas in Tracy was under $4! How frightening that $3.98 is a good price. We thought we were on our way. We enter the freeway and Marley tells me that she needs to pee. That's my fault; I should have asked if she needed to go. We take the very next exit and use a grimy port-o-let. Finally we made it to Oakdale. Every year we stop at Dorada Park for a break. It is a cool old park with a lot of character and nooks 'n crannies. The kids had a great time not sitting in the car, and Kate tried her first swing. We got back in the car and drove. We almost got hit in Confidence by someone looking at their radio on a big turn. We missed the head on collision, but Ella got hit in the head with a rice cooker in the process. That's my fault; pack the heavy stuff down low. So the upshot of the drive up is that we turned a 4 hour drive into an 8 hour drive. We arrived at 8:30 after dinner was done and packed up. But at least we made it.

Biker Chick

I love seeing my kids to learn to ride a two-wheeler. The feeling of running with them as they pedal frantically and then letting go of the seat as they teeter unsteadily on their own is one of a kind. It is hard to see them grow up and do these things on their own, but I also feel a sense of "rightness." It is like a metaphor for parenting as you let go and they venture on their own.

Being the third in line, Marley is always trying to keep up. Lately she has been determined to ride a bike without training wheels. We worked a little on it last week, but she lacked the confidence. She still is unsure, but she is riding on her own. You can hear her shout in the video, "Dad! Hold on! Hold on!" I am sure all kinds of symbolic metaphors could be drawn here, but the really it is just fun to see her learn to ride a bike.